Stuffing-box.



W. G. WILSON.

STUFFING BOX.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9. I918.

l ,39 1,965 Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

bnirrn PATENT orricn WYLIEG-EMMEL WILSpN, OF ELI ZWB ZETI-I, NEW JERSEY.

swimmer-Box.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 18, 1919.

Application filed February 9, 1918. Serial No. 216,203.

same, the special feature of advantage tobe secured by my improvementresiding in so slurping the Walls of theconfining space for the packing and the surface of the rocking spindle thata tight packed joint is easily insured andat the san e time a greater surface area is packed with a given cross section of packing tha11 heretofore obtainable, with the result that the sealing of the rocking spindle againstthe passage of steam or other fluid is more perfectly insured.

More particularly, my invention has for its objectthe provision in the metallic confining surfaces for the packing such configuration as will cause the packing to more readily change its shape laterally when subjected to compression and fit closely to the confining surfaces in a more perfect and satisfactory manner than has heretofore been possible with packing and stiitlingboxes in which the lateral walls were parallel.

A further object of my invention to provide a construction in which a relatively short stuffing-box may be en'iployed with an efficient sealing of the shaft; and moreover, my improved packing is designed to insurea tight joint even where the shaft is somewhat loose in its bearing such as to permit slight longitudinal motion or oscillatory motion of its axis, a condition which With ordinary packing it is almost impossible to make fluid tight.

lily invention also consists of improvements hereinafter described whereby the above objects and results .areattained, said improvements comprising certain organ zation and combination of parts which are fully described hereinafter and more particularly defined in the claims.

For the purpose of illustratingflmy invention, I have shown in the accompanying drawings the embodimentthereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same s in form to give satlsfactory and rel able results, but it is tobe understood that the several instrumentalities of which my invent on consists, can be variously arranged and organlzed and that my 111V6-11t1011'1S not limited to the precise arrangement and or ganization of the instruinentalities herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings :Figure 1 is a sectional view of a quickacting valve showing my improved packing appliedthereto; .Flg. 2 is a plan view of the bottom gland of thepacking box; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a ring of packing material adapted for use in my improvedpacking box; Fig. {1 is the stuliing-box gland; and Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a modification of the packing: means shown in Fig. 1.

, hile my invention is broadly directed to packing for shafts, it has also special application to packing of rocking spindlesffor quick-acting valves, and by way of example Ihave illustrated in Fig. 1 a common form of such valves now in general use w1th my improvements applied thereto. 2 andS are the two portions of the casingor body of the valve and these are bolted together by bolts 1. The part 2 is provided with an inlet'port 6 having a screw-threaded hub 8 for receiving the ai is connections and the part 3 of the casing is provided with an outlet port 7 having a screw-threaded hub 9 for receiving; the discharge pipe. 12 is a rocking spindle extending through a hearing 10 in the part 3 of the casing andhas its outer end 12 made square and fitted with a lever 19 by which it may be rocked.

The inner end of the rocking spindle 12 maybe provided with an annular flange 13 fitting against the inner surface of the easing art 3 and having a hub 14 which carries the swinging a-rnii 15 within the valve chamber 5 of the casing. The swinging arm 15 isguided over the'guide surface within the part 2 of the casing and about the inlet port 6 thereof. 16 is a valve piece which is in contact with the guide surface on the inner face of the part 3 of the casing sur rounding the outlet port 7 thereof, and the valve piece 16 journaled in the [free end of the arm 15 and is spring-pressed upon its seat, the spring 17 for this purpose being confined wltlfl l l l an lnclosed chamber x the casing.

and pressing at one'end upon the valve piece 16 and at the other end upon the swinging arm so that each of these parts is springpressed upon its respective; seat. :The spin dle 12 may be pressed longitudinally by a coil' spring 18 to seat the annular collar 13 upon its seating surface in the part 3 of Referring more particularly to the pack- 1ng box structure employed in connection with the valve casing and rocklng spindle above described, the spindle itself is provided with two annular grooves 20 preferably of V-shape and relatively shallow as to their width. The casing 3 surrounding the grooved'portions of the spindle is provided with the stuliing-box chamber 29 and the sidewall thereof is provided with one or more annular grooves 21 preferably of substantially the shape of the grooves 20 but directed oppositelythereto; that is to say, the bottoms of thegrooves 20' and 21 are a greater distance apart than are the remaining portions of the spindle and s de wall of the packing chamber. Preferably, the grooves. 20 and 21 are the same in number and are also preferably symmetrlcally disposed, as shown, for the more effective action upon the packing. Seated in the bottom of the packing chamber 29 is the bottom gland 22 whi h is in the form of an annular washer of more or less V-shaped cross section so that its upper surface presents an annular V-shaped ridge 22"" upon which the packing rests. The position of this bottom gland 22 is such that it will be below the annular grooves 20 of the rocking spindle. Surrounding the spindle and fitting the entrance to the packing chamber 29 is the outer gland 28. This gland has a cylindrical outer surface as is customary in stufiingboxes and snugly fits a cylindrical portion ,of the packing chamber, but its inner end a special construction as adapted to the valve of 1, the gland may be adjusted by means of a cap screw 26 and a washer 25 pressing upon the hub of the operating lever 19 as shown. In this construction, the

hub of the lever 19 presses upon the gland 23'and the cap screw is screwed-into the end of thespindle 12, and acting through the washer 25 will move the hub of the lever to a greater or less extent downward upon the gland 23. In this manner the gland may be forced down-upon the packing 27. If the shaft were required to extend to a considerable distance through the gland, it is manifest that this particular construction for holding it in place and adjusting it could not be conveniently employed. It is also evident "that in additionto' the devices just described in connection with Fig. 1, the screw studs and nuts shown in Fig. 5 may also be employed, as the uniform adjustment may be accomplished by the cap screw 26 and then the nuts and studs 28 employed for holding the gland in adjusted position and removing the strain upon the collar 13 to allow the spindle to work more freely. It will also be understood that where there is no collar 13 employed in the rocking shaft or spindle, then and in that event it would not be convenient to apply the pressure to 'the gland by means of the cap screw 26, be-

cause in doing so there would be longitudinal strain upon the shaft which would put undue strain upon the packing where-it extends into the annular grooves 20. These variations in adjusting the gland may be adapted to the particular uses to which the packing device is applied, and I do not restrict myself in this respect.

It will now be understood that if the packing in the form of Figs. 3 or 6 is dropped into the packing chamber 29 and then the gland.

23 inserted and pressure applied as above explained, the result will be to drive the annular ridge portions 22 and 24.- respectively into the top and bottom of the packing. This action tends to not only compress the packing,.but to cause it to expand laterally to fill the grooves 20 and 21 so that it takes on a cross sectional shape or more or less X-form. It will be seen that in this manner there is a positive lateral displacement of the packing and at the same time the inclined annular walls on each side of the ridge 21 act to press the packing toward the inclined annular ridges of the grooved portions 20 and 21 which directly oppose them, and thus insure a tight compression of the packing not only by lateral displacement but by direct pressure from the gland down to the supporting inclined walls of the spindle and of the packing chamber. If we consider the action of the gland 23 upon the lower portion of the packing immediately above the bottom gland 22, it will be seen that the packing in this case will be forced to the right and left over the ridge 22 and likewise upon the inclined walls of the grooves 20 and 21, therebyagain securing the pressure upon the spindle and insuring a tight packing. Aside from this action of squeezing the packing between an inclined surface of the gland and an inclined surface of the spindle, there is an increased length of surface of the spindle against which the packing contacts, and consequently this increased surface also aids in insuring, a perfect seal. Not only is this aided by the length of the surface so presented, but it is also aided by the fact that the surface is made up of a plurality of portions atanwangle to each other which necessitates the zig-zagging-of the fluid and its consequent entrainment uvhich insure a nonleaking oint.

lhere is another point of View as to the tightness of a packing which may be stated as follows: Assuming that there is fluid pressure and that there is some leaking along the shaft toward the packing. The

. action of-this pressureioutivard Will tend to force the packing outward against the gland 23 and in doing so Wlll also force it against the inclined surfaces of the grooves, and this lis facilitated {by the fact that the annular ridge portion 24 ofthe glandactsto spread the packing against the inclined opposing annular surfaces of the shaft and packing chamber orbox; andvmoreover, it evident thatthe higher :the fluid pressure the more tightly will the packing be compressed, and therefore at all timesthere that even after the shaft or spindle has been Worn and has more or less looseness, the packing Will insure atight joint and will be automatic in maintaining such tight joint while at the same time permitting reasonableflenibility in the movement of the shaft.

- In Fig. 5, I have illustrated my improve ment with only one, groove 20 in the shaft and one groove 21 in the :stufiing-box, as an alternative to the employment of two grooves as in Fig. 1. The general principle of construction and operation is the same and construction shown in Fig. 5 Would be especially adapted to cases Where very shallow stufling-bokes alone were permissible from lack of space. Reversely, it is evident that more than two grooves on the shaft and in the box may be employed if so desired; and it is further to bewunderstood that while I prefer a symmetrical cross section to be followed .both on the shaft and on the wall of the box, nevertheless this is not essential, and I do not restrict myself to this identity in configuration of {the two parts. It is also manifest that the bottom gland or Washer 22 might be dispensed with, if so desired.

This invention is applicable to packing rocking or rotating shafts for various uses as well for rocking spindles with er with in which it is directly supported.

out collars and irrespective of Whether the shaft or spindle is journaled 111 a close fitwting .bearmggor sufliciently free to be journal'edvpnactically in thepacking itself. This latter condition is iillustratedin Fig. ,5, in

Which t'here may be considerable oscillation atethe shaft or spindle While maintaining its ijournaled relation to the packing itself I11 fact, in :many cases it isgood practice to make all the metallic parts of the stufling box,

whichsurrounds the shaft, ofan exceedingly loose fit inelatively to the shaft, so that the shaft itself actually contacts only with the packing and not atall with the metal of ti stullingbox or gland. Smiling-boxes outmetallic bearings for direct contact no she ft and employing my improved packing, are suitaablefor variousclasses of machines, such for GXttlIlPlB, as centrifugal pumps, antogear cases, and rotary steam engines of either the positive pressure, the impulse or the reaction types.

The nature of the 111621118 employed for causing the packing to assume the shapes shown and adaptitself to the-grooved Walls of the stuffingabox andshaft, will insure a snug. ifitting of the packing with. less pressure than is necessary where the gland opcrates .upon packing in an. annular space With cylindrical bounding Walls, as heretofore, andnotwithstandingthis lesser pressure the tightness of the packed jointis increased. "This increaseintightness is not only caused by thesrncreased surface length due ltothe grooved construction oflthe shaft and :lJOX, but more especially because the pressure of i the steam or other 1 fluid presses thew-packing against the surface provided by the grooves; that is to say, pressure outward upon the inner end of the packing 27, causes its inclined annular surfaces to press againstwthe opposinginclined annular surfaces of the gnooves in the 'ibox and shaft.

The packingwbeing ofa yielding nature, it adapts itself a to the inclined surfaces of the box and shaft grooves; and the greater the fluid pressure, the greater is the pressure 10f the packlng upon the surfaces and hence the tighter the seal a In this manner, my

improved packing accomplishes results .not attainable with packing as ordinarily employed about smooth shafts and cylindrical walled boxes Socii'ective is my improved 3 packing, that after screwing ldown 23 to spread the packing into the grooves of the shaft and box, the gland maybe loosened by turning back the nuts of the gland studs 28 nearly a:fullturmand thereafter aiifluid pressure, even as great as 200 2 pounds per square inch, will fail to cause any appreciable leakage.

Wifihile the packing illustrated in Fig. 3,

why Way of example, may be employed, I

prefer ordinary small trope nor :corddlke .tliegland 12 *about the shaft, and in quantity sufficient 'to fill the box'g'and in'practice I have found strand packing which maybe employed by wrapping1t,asever1ng it at each wrapping excellent :results to be secured by use of asbestos rope packing. The packing that would preferably be used would be packing in the form of a small rope or cord, the diameter of the cord being considerably less than the space between the shaft and the v wallof the-stuffing-box. A piece of such cord long enough to go around the shaft, say once, would be'cut off and put in, then another similar piece put in with its joint around 90 from 1 the joint of the first piece, then another piece with its. joint around 90 again,'and so on, breaking joints each time until a su'flicient number of pieces had been droppedin to fill one groove as illustrated in Fig.6. The packing thus inserted would be squeezed home at intervals until the stuffing-box was full. This simulates the ordinary practical method of packing a stufiing-box, using ordinary commercial packing of the kind which will fit any size stuffing-box and does not require that special packing of a specific size shall be purchased for each specific stuffing-box. I

do not, however, restrict myself to any par- 30 ticular form or type of packing, except that it must be pliable and capable of being spread laterallyby pressure applied by the gland 23. 1

In additionto its practicability and ease of application, this method of packing'the box would actually give better results than j any other type of packing that could be used, on account of the entire absence of continuous scams or joints in the packing structure. V y l This multiplicity of small cords of pack *ing with broken jointswoulchby the pressure of the gland, besqueezed into a mass \VlllClI'fOl all practical purposes would be OIIGPIQCQ aHCl-JOHIblGSS. Further, the structure of the packing consisting of a number of circles, free to expand or contract,lying upon one another, would permit complete spreading of the packing, or contraction of wall of the stuffing box vand the grooves on i the stem, with the nnnnnum pressure applied the packingfihto the grooves on the outer by the gland.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction whlch embodies thefeatures of advantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and descrlbed the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it isto be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details,

"as-the same are susceptible of modification in various paiitlculars 'wlthout departing from the spirit "or scope of the invention.

" Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A stuffing-box comprising a casing provided with annular grooves on its interior walls, a shaft extending through the casing and provided with corresponding circumferential grooves, suitable flexible fibrous packing yieldingly filling the annular space between the shaft and the grooved wall of the casing, and adjustable means to coinpress said packing in a direction substantially parallel to the shaft to cause'it to spread laterally and yieldingly' fill the grooves of both the casing and the shaft and be retained therein.

2. A stuffing-box comprising a case pro vided with annular grooves, a shaft adapted to rotate in said casing and provided with grooves in transverse alinement with the grooves in the casing, suitable flexible fibrous packing interposed between shaft and casing and filling the space in the box and grooves, and means to compress said packing in a direction substantially parallel to the shaft to cause it to spread laterally and yieldingly fill the grooved portions.

3, In a stuffing-box for shafts and spindles consisting of a bearing having a stuffing-box at one end, the wall of which is provided with a V-shap ed annular groove, combined with a shaft journaled in the bearing and extending through the stuiling-box said shaft being provided with a V-shaped annular groove in the same transverse alinement with the V shaped groove in the stuffing-box, packing arranged in the stuffingbox, an inner gland portion fitting the bottom of the stufiing-box and surrounding the shaft and presenting an outwardly directed annular ridge of V-shaped cross section, an

7 adjustable outer gland portion fitting about the shaft and having its inner end provided with an annular ridge of V-shaped cross section, and means to adjust the outer gland to put the packing under compression and cause it to spread laterally into the grooved portions.

%l-. In a stuffing-box for shafts and spindles, the combination of a bearing having at one end a stuiling-box, the outer wall of which is provided with a plu 'ality of annular grooves of V-shaped cross section, with a shaft journaled in the bearing and provided with a plurality of grooves of V-shaped cross section arranged in the same transverse alinement with the grooves in the stufling-box, packing arranged in the stufiing-box between the grooved portions of the box and shaft, an annular gland fitting the stufling-box and shaft, and means to adjust the gland to apply adjustable pressure to the packing and cause it to spread laterally into the groovedportions of the box and shaft.

annular 5. In a stufling-box for shafts and spindles, the combination of a bearing having at one 'end a stufling-box, the outer wall of which is provided wit-h a plurality of annular grooves of \l-shaped cross section, with a shaft journaled in the bearing and provided with a plurality of annular grooves of V-shaped cross section arranged in the same transverse alinement with the grooves in the stufling-box, packing arranged in the stufling-box between the grooved portions of the box and shaft, an annular bottom gland having an outwardly directed annular ridge of V-shaped cross section, an annular gland fitting the stuffing-box and shaft and having its under side provided with an annular ridge of \l-shaped cross section, and means to adjust the gland to supply pressure to the acking and cause it to spread laterally into the grooved portions of the box and shaft.

6. In a stuffing-box construction, the combination of a bearing having a stufiing-box at one end the outer wall. of which is provided with an annular groove of ll-shaped cross section, a shaft journaled in the bear ing and provided with a flange fitting to the end of the bearing most distant from the stuffing-box and said shaft also provided with an annular V-shaped groove arranged in transverse alinement with the groove in the stuffing-box, packing in the stufling-box, a gland surrounding the shaft at the open end of thestuifingbox and having its inner end provided with an annular ridge of ll-shaped cross section pressing upon the packing to spread it laterally into the grooved portions of the box and shaft, and means secured to the end of the shaft for applying pressure upon the stuffing-box said means also holding the collar of the shaft against the end wall of the bearing.

7. In a stutling-box for shafts and spindles, consisting of a bearing having a stuflingbox at one end, combined with a shaft journaled in the bearing and extending through the stufling-box said shaft being provided with a ll-shaped annular groove, packing arranged in the stuffing-box, an inner gland portion fitting thebottom of the stuffingbox and surrounding the shaft and presenting an outwardly directed annular ridge of ll-shaped cross section, an adjustable outer gland portion fitting about the shaft and having its inner end provided with an annular ridge of V-shaped cross section, and means to adjust the outer gland to put the packing under compression and cause-it to spread laterally into the grooved portions.

8. A stuffingbox for shafts and spindles the outer wall of which is annularly grooved, combined with a shaft having its part which extends through the stuffing-box also annularly grooved, a packin in the stufling-box, and a gland fitted a out the shaft portion and extending into the stulfing-box for applying adjustable pressure upon the packing and causing it to spread laterally into the annular grooves of the box or shaft.

9. A. stuffing-box for shafts and spindles, consisting of a bearing having at one end thereof a stuflingbox the outer wall of which is annularly grooved, combined with a shaft portion journaled in the bearing and having its part which extends through the stuifing box provided with an annular groove, a packing in the stuflingbox, an annular bottom gland arranged in the bottom of the stuffing-box and presenting an outwardly directed annular ridge portion, and an annular outer gland fitting about the shaft portion and extending into the stuffing-box said gland portion having an annular conical ridge portion on its inner end.

10. A stuffing-box for shafts and spindles, consisting of a bearing having a stuffing-box at one end, the wall of which is provided with a V-shaped annular groove, combined with a shaft journaled in the bearing and extending through the stufiing-box said shaft being provided with a V-shaped annular groove in the same transverse alinement with the ll-shaped groove in the stufiingbox, packing arranged in the stuffing-box, an adjustable gland portion fitting about theshaft and having its inner end provided with an annular ridge of V-shaped cross section, and means to adjust the gland to put the packing under compression and cause it to spread laterally into the grooved portions.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

WYLIE GEMMEL WILSON.

Witnesses:

WM. F. MADILL, Es'rnnn Goonn. 

